Rez sisters to me is a very intimate show about the bonding of these ‘sisters’ on a reservation, and the stage it is put on upon should be able to reflect this to the audience while seamlessly making the audience feel as if they created this same bond with the characters. I have no stake of interest in putting a play on of this nature in a proscenium or arena theater because I feel the grandeur and distance and placement of audience here can pull you out of connecting with the themes of this production. The proscenium theater would put the characters inside of a picture frame and stretch the audience far back, not allowing for the whole of the audience to experience the same bonding nature, and the arena theater would see this same problem arise with its scale and wrap around nature. You could stage this play to work in a circle, but I would want to deemphasize potentially confusing stage directions in return for the ability to know the emotion of each character as it is happening. A thrust stage would allow for this vision of total intimacy with the characters, but my vision for this show would best be suited in a flexible theater. You would be able to set up a third-circle surrounding the stage area at a close distance to really get the audience into the feelings that this play expresses.
The actual scenic design of the play I feel should be very minimalistic as shown in the UGA production. Again, I don’t want anything to take away from the actual performances in the show and what the women are saying. This is not some big period piece; this is an intimate tale of these ‘Rez Sisters.’ This also proves advantageous when figuring out how to stage the different locales as it is not that difficult to change a minimalist setting. To set up the van, you literally can just have rows of chairs to symbolize the rows in the van. This I think gives the play its best shot at reaching the audience on a most personal level.
The actual scenic design of the play I feel should be very minimalistic as shown in the UGA production. Again, I don’t want anything to take away from the actual performances in the show and what the women are saying. This is not some big period piece; this is an intimate tale of these ‘Rez Sisters.’ This also proves advantageous when figuring out how to stage the different locales as it is not that difficult to change a minimalist setting. To set up the van, you literally can just have rows of chairs to symbolize the rows in the van. This I think gives the play its best shot at reaching the audience on a most personal level.